Folding rack



Dec. 4, 1934. A. VAN ROOSENDAEL 1,982,972

FOLDING RACK Filed June 27, 1932 INVENTOR. fluausr lh/v Koosavma MVGATTORNEYS.

. tion.

Patented Dec. 4, 1 934 FOIlDING RACK uru-st tail, titties s'ig ff'jHo'ine Faciliti California Lbs, n'ligis C n't, es Ina, ac'oipora'tionof Application june 27, 1932, Serial no. 619,566

1 Claim; (01. 211L219 "Thi'sinverition relates to and has for a purposethe provision "of {a rack adapted to support various articles, such asnckties, towels, etc., the rack being structurally characterized in amanner to enable articles to be readily applied thereto removedtherefrom, as well as stored on the rack in 'a restricted space byvirtue of the adjustab'ility bf the rack to either project from a war-'1or other support in a substantially horizontal position for theapsncauon and removal or articles, orto "be "disposed vertically againstthe wall for the storage of articles neatly and compactly.

It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a folding rack ofthe above described character which is extremely simple in construction;is inexpensive to manufacture; and is composed of but a few partscapable of being assembled 20 and installed with the utmost ease anddispatch to form a substantial structure of neat appearance.

Only one form of this invention will be described, following which itsnovel features will be pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure l is a view showing in perspective the folding rack embodyingthis invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner inwhich article holding bars or rods can be removably associated with therack.

Figure 4 is a schematic view illustrating in dot and dash lines therelative positions of the bracket and the coacting frame of the devicewhen adjusting the frame to a vertical posi- Referring specifically tothe drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate similarparts in each of the several views, this invention in its presentembodiment comprises an article supporting unit in the form of arectangular frame F constructed of wood or other suitable material. Theframe F is composed of side members 10-10 and end members 11-11a.spanning and rigidly connecting the side members.

M Bars or rods 12, from which articles such as tow- 'els, neckties,etc., can be suspended, span and are either permanently secured to theside members in parallelism at intervals along the lengths of the sidemembers, as shown in Figures 1 and *2, or can be removably associatedwith the side master the provision of inclined slots in the latter whichare adapted to freely receive the ends of the rs,1as shown in Figure 3.M

Afbrace "rfierr'iber M is preferably constructed froma length of lieavywii e stock: bent i' ('1 U shape to provide parallel arms 16- -16 nd arectilinear portion 17. The free ends fof tlie m 1 re temt m re re t imnpn' aiwm h a'r i id fnei briefings e endi'ng through the side embers 10of the frame F adj v nt "ijee'nd thereof, theftrunnio'n's beingassociated with me Sid embers by springing the arms outwardlyis ently toresave the were, arid then releasing the arms 'so that upon registeringthe trunnions will snap into the openings so as to hingedly connect thebrace to the frame.

A bracket B of wood or other suitable material is preferably in the formof a rectangular and flat bar adapted to be secured in a horizontalposition by screws or other fastening means to a vertical support suchas a wall W. The bracket is co-extensive in length with that of the endmember 11 of the frame F, and is provided in that vertical side face 19intended to confront the wall, with a groove 20 extending lengthwise ofthe bracket and co-extensiv'e in length therewith.

The groove 20 is of sufficient cross sectional area to freely receivethe connecting portion 17 of the brace M, it being understood that theconnecting portion is co-extensive in length with the bracket B. Whenthe bracket is secured to the wall, as shown in Figure 2, the connectingportion 17 will be confined in the groove 20 against lateral and axialdisplacement so as to provide a hinged connection between the bracketand brace, which, with the hinged connection provided by the trunnions18 between the brace and the frame F, enables the frame to be adjustedto occupy the horizontal and vertical positions shown, respectively, infull and broken lines in Figure 2.

In the horizontal position of the frame, wherein articles can be readilyapplied to and removed from the bars 12, the upper surface 21 of the endmember 11 abuts the parallel under surface 22 of the bracket Bthroughout the length of the latter, whereas the outer surface 23 ofthis end member abuts the wall W, for co-action with the brace inrigidly supporting the frame against tilting.

The frame is moved to its vertical position by being first swungupwardly about the hinged connection provided by the connecting portionof the brace, following which the frame is swung downwardly about theaxes of the trunnions 18 and allowed to rest against the wall, thusstoring the suspended articles neatly and compactly in a minimum amountof space. The rack is particularly advantageous at locations where spacemust be economized, or where the frame would present an obstruction inits horizontal position. Due to the manner in which the frame isassociated with the bracket and brace, there is no sacrifice of therigidity afforded by a non-adjustable rack, all while enabling the rackto be constructed at a minimum cost. The end member 11 is rounded at oneof its longitudinal cor-- ners to provide a transversely curved surface11b; and the adjacent ends of the members 10 are likewise rounded toprovide similar. curved surfaces 10b, the latter surfaces beingassociated with the surface llb so that the whole thereof constitute arocker-like portion which directly coacts with the front face of thebracket B to permit the frame F to be quickly turned to occupy thesubstantially vertical position shown in Figure 2. In Figure 4, I haveschematically illustrated by the dot and dash linesthe manner in whichthe aforementioned rocker-like portion is adapted to bear against thefront face of the bracket B and to rock and smoothly glide thereover themoment the surface 21 is withdrawn from under the surface 22 and theframe canted in a direction forwardly of the bracket.

What is claimed is:

A rack comprising a frame composed of side members and end members witharticle supporting bars spanning the side members at intervals; abracket in the form of a flat rectangular shaped bar having a groove inone side face thereof extending longitudinally of the bracket andco-extensive in length therewith; means for rigidly securing the bracketto a fiked support; a U-shaped brace providing parallel spaced apartarms and a rectilinear connecting portion; the free ends of the armshaving trunnions journaled in the side members of the frame, and theconnecting portion being received in said groove of the bracket so as tobe confined therein against lateral and axial displacement when thebracket is secured to a wall with its grooved side face confronting thewall, whereby the connecting portion will provide a fulcrum enabling theframe to be swung to occupy a vertical position and a horizontalposition wherein an end member of the frame abuts the under surface ofthe bracket for co-action with the brace in supporting the frame in suchposition, the opposite face of the bracket being uniformly smooththroughout and the frame having a continuous rocker surface co-extensivewith the width of the bracket; said rocker surface being transverselycurved and adapted to freely rock on the aforementioned smooth face ofthe bracket during the operation of turning the frame to a. verticalposition.

AUGUST VAN ROOSENDAEL.

